Sect. 165The Power of the Devil Founded Upon SinThe Power of the Devil Founded Upon Sin

I. The Council of Trent points out that original sin brought man under the power of the devil; earlier decisions, and the Fathers, find a strong argument for original sin in the “exorcisms” used in the administration of Baptism, and Holy Scripture in many places represents redemption from the captivity of the devil, and destruction of his empire as the special object of Christ’s Redemption (cf. Epist. Cælestini, cap. xii.). The chief texts bearing on this doctrine, are: “Who (God) hath delivered us from the power of darkness (= the prince of darkness), and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Col. 1:13; see also 2:14, 15; John 12:31, and 14:30, “… that through death He might destroy him who had the empire of death, that is to say, the devil,” Heb. 2:14).

II. Satan has no just right to the empire of death: he is a tyrant in title as well as in fact. His title is entirely on the side of man, who for his sin deserved to be abandoned by God (Whom he had forsaken) to the devil by whom he allowed himself to be seduced. St. Peter, in his Second Epistle (2:19), quotes the ancient law of war, “by whom a man is overcome, of the same also he is a slave,” as illustrating the relation of the sinner to Satan. St. Paul says, “Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are whom you obey, whether it be of sin unto death, or of obedience unto justice?” (Rom. 6:16.) From this text, it is clear that man’s slavery to Satan is the result of man’s voluntary adhesion to his tyrant.

III. The evils which follow sin were introduced into the world by the malice of the devil, and they are, besides, part of his own punishment. Hence, Satan, by involving man in sin, made him a captive and slave in his empire—a captive, because the sinner is deprived of the power freely to move towards his perfection; a slave, because he is, to a great extent, compelled to serve the devil in his war against God, and to satisfy his hatred of God and man. Of course, the empire, or power, of Satan is not the same over all sinners alike. It attains its highest degree in the hardened sinner; is less in the sinner guilty of mortal sin, but not a hardened sinner; and least in those guilty of original sin only. The formula of exorcism in the rite of Baptism addresses the devil as dwelling in the infant after the manner of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the saints. This satanic indwelling, however, is not a substantial indwelling in the body, much less in the soul, of the child, but only a relation of dependence and influence, such as exists between men,—strengthened, maybe, by the permanent company of a wicked spirit. The very analogy with the influence of the Holy Ghost shows that the devil does not and cannot force his victim to commit sin; for as the Holy Ghost leaves to the soul its power for evil, so does the devil leave to it the power for good.

The empire of sin and death may be considered either as a continuation of the material part of sin, or as a continuation of sin itself and of its guilt. From this point of view, it is conceivable that even the justified may be exposed to a considerable extent to the influences of the devil, and may even be bodily possessed by him; in the same manner as concupiscence remains after justification, that is, as a continuation of the material part of sin. Such persecution, however, does not imply any captivity or slavery of the just under the devil, because the devil has no longer any “right” against those who belong to God, and because he can only influence them after the manner of natural concupiscence; his obsession is merely a trial of the sanctity of the children of God.

IV. The devil is called by St. Paul “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). “This world” is here taken as the world such as it became through the fall of Adam, in opposition to what it will be when the Redemption of Christ will have had its full effect. Yet these and similar expressions, and the expressions used by the Church in the blessings of so many material things, indicate that the power of Satan extends over the whole visible world, in as far as it comes into immediate contact with man, or is at man’s service. This is but a consequence of the loss by Adam of his dominion over material creation. It is among the spoils which his conqueror has carried off. In direct antagonism with the life-giving influences from above, the king of death wages his war against God from below; through the visible things of this world he tempts the lower appetites of man, and strives to ascend until he reaches the root of the soul where the work of God commences.

V. Satan exercises, or manifests, his power in a twofold manner: he tempts man to sin, and inflicts on him other evils, yet always with the object of leading him into sin. The first point is clearly laid down in Scripture: “Be sober and watch, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist ye, strong in faith” (1 Pet 5:8, 9; see also Eph. 6:11). The only open question is whether the devil is the author of “all” temptations. It is certain that the flesh and the world, viz. man’s own concupiscence and inducements from without, in many cases sufficiently account for temptation, without the intervention of Satan. Still, it is very probable that Satan does not remain idle when those agencies of his are at work; nay, it seems most likely that he never, or, at most, very seldom, assails the soul except by means of “the flesh and the world.” Nor is it unlikely that the “ape of God” deputes wicked spirits to counteract the part of the Guardian Angels. As to the infliction of physical evils, we have proof for its existence in the formulæ of the various blessings given by the Church to material things. These formulæ, however, lay especial stress on the spiritual damage to be feared from the devil, whence we infer that whatever use the wicked one makes of material evils against man, it is always with intent to damage his soul.

VI. The “god of the world” carries out his government on much the same lines as the God Whose Empire he seeks to destroy. His religion is in every particular a caricature of Divine Religion. According to 1 Cor. 10:18–19, idolatry was, and still is, a working of devils in which almost every human vice and degrading practice has been elevated to the rank of virtues and sacrifices. When Christianity has destroyed idolatry, the religion of Satan embodies itself in a diabolical hatred of the religion of Christ, and especially of Catholicism, without, however, even giving up attempts to set up a positive diabolical cultus. Such attempts are attested by the whole religious history of mankind, from the earliest idolaters to the modern “spiritualists.” False wonders and prophecies are resorted to with the object of deterring men from God, and enlisting them in the service of the devil. The superior power and knowledge of Satan enable him to perform works above the power of man, and to predict future contingent events with a greater chance of success. Scripture and Tradition attest the fact that Satan uses his power and knowledge for his wicked purposes (see Matt. 24:24, and compare 2 Thess. 2:7–9). In imitation of God’s prophets and priests, the devil has his “mediums,” that is, persons chosen and accepted as channels of communication between him and the world. Antichrist will be such a medium, and the girl of Philippi “having a pythonical spirit, who brought to her masters much gain by divining,” was another (Acts 16:16 sqq.). The possibility of sorcery, witchcraft, necromancy, and the like, is evident à priori; their actual existence is dogmatically and historically certain. When, however, the practical question has to be decided whether some extraordinary performance is the work of the devil or not, the same care and precautions must be taken as in deciding whether or not an extraordinary occurrence is the work of God. Magical (“art,” in the sense of practices and manipulations governed by set rules, and producing constant diabolical effects, is an imitation of the Sacraments and Sacramentals of the Church. It must nevertheless be granted that the imitation is but very imperfect, for the devil can only operate with the permission of God; his power and knowledge, though great, are yet limited, and his deceitfulness prevents him from keeping his promises even to his adherents.

Thus the belief in preternatural diabolical influences is no superstition, but sound faith. Satan’s most daring attempt at aping his Divine Master appears in “possession of men by the devil.” It is an attempt at imitating the indwelling of the Holy Ghost and the Hypostatic Union. Demoniacal possession was most frequent during Christ’s stay on earth, and for a certain time afterwards, as if Satan wished to manifest the height of his power in the face of his Antagonist. The casting out of the devils afforded also one of the most striking proofs of Christ’s power. Real possession ought to be carefully distinguished from the sinner’s voluntary surrender to the devil, as recorded of Judas (John 13:27), and likewise from “obsession,” viz. from that state of siege in which the devil holds persons inaccessible to his ordinary seductions. In real possession the devil disputes man’s control over his body, and, for a length of time, acts as if he were the soul, or if the body were his own. The soul itself he cannot possess in the same way; but, in this state, he acts on it through the lower faculties of human nature, especially through the imagination. The Scriptural name ἐνεργούμενοι describes accurately the state of possession as “worked by the devil.” A person possessed by the evil spirit is violently and despotically turned into a tool or instrument of the devil. Possession, as a fact, is so clearly maintained in Holy Writ and in Tradition, that, without heresy, its existence cannot be denied. See the Commentaries on the Sentences, II. Dist. 8; Perrone, De Vrrtute Religionis.